Sonoma Valley Collaborative is a forum of community leaders from a wide range of sectors across Sonoma Valley, finding solutions and taking action to address our community’s biggest challenges.
SONOMA VALLEY
HOUSING DECLARATION
Sonoma Valley suffers from a severe housing affordability crisis that affects every aspect of our community. The future of our community is at stake.
Sonoma Valley Collaborative members have pledged to work together, across boundaries, to increase, improve and preserve housing that is affordable, for people who live or work in the Valley, within already developed areas, to create diverse, safe, complete neighborhoods.
—JAY, STUDENT AT SONOMA VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL
“I live in a one bedroom apartment that can’t hold a family of five. Our rent has gone up, and it is far from school. I am always late. Housing can bring more families, make a diverse and connected community, provide privacy, and can be comfortable, letting you sleep well. It is crowded everywhere, with big families trying to live in small spaces. It’s a broader problem, because it can also cause the population to decrease, with less students, teachers and families. Make housing affordable for families with low income!”
— John Hennelly, Sonoma Valley Hospital, CEO
“At the hospital, it’s becoming more and more evident that the lack of affordability is affecting us. Ten years ago, 40% of our employees lived in Sonoma Valley, now it’s about 30%. That has significant impacts to staff availability, commuting costs, and community engagement.”
OUR WORK ON HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
A Catalyst for Housing in Sonoma Valley
We are leading the creation of a Sonoma Valley Housing Affordability Roadmap, which will set the stage for major interventions to improve housing affordability in Sonoma Valley.
Influencing the Sonoma County & City of Sonoma Housing Plans
Our advocacy resulted in the most pro-housing Housing Element ever adopted by the City of Sonoma.
Strategic Recommendations for our Community
Our 2020 report, Homes for a Sustainable Sonoma Valley: Strategic Recommendations For Our Community, identifies strategies to fulfill our pledge to work together across sectors to increase, improve, and preserve affordable housing for those who live or work in Sonoma Valley.
OUR MEMBERS
Sonoma Valley Collaborative is a forum of community leaders from a wide range of sectors across Sonoma Valley, finding solutions and taking action to address our community’s biggest challenges.
Our core partners are working together to build a common agenda, shared measurement systems, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and backbone support for our partners.
Other Partners
OUR CORE FUNCTIONS
Solve Problems. We identify and tackle complex community problems with an explicit value of sustainability, finding solutions that have the greatest buy-in and also promote balance among: environment, economy and equity.
Spur Investment. We identify and link potential investment opportunities with new projects or programs that align with our explicit values and identified solutions.
Build Alignment. We help facilitate diplomacy across key sectors within the community, linking together organizations and leaders to solve complex community problems.
Inform. We develop tools that inform member decisions on new projects, policies, and proposed actions.
Advocate. We work to build a shared understanding of complex community problems and shift public opinion toward agreed-upon solutions.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to make positive change in Sonoma Valley by aligning the interest groups in the community towards shared goals and measurable targets, and supporting efforts that achieve those goals. This common agenda will align our activities and accelerate success in achieving a just, thriving, sustainable community.
OUR VISION
Sonoma Valley is a thriving, just, sustainable community, a model for Sonoma County, the state, and the nation.
OUR VALUES
What is a Sustainable Community?
The elements of a sustainable community are a healthy environment, a strong economy and the well-being of the people living in the community. A sustainable community meets challenges through integrated solutions rather than through fragmented approaches that meet some goals at the expense of the others.
Sources: STAR Communities, Institute for Sustainable Communities
